Preparation is Key
by LittleJoan
Summary: When Hermione decides that it's time to start preparing for the upcoming war she makes new friendships that could completely change the way she thinks.


It was well after midnight and the time was starting to take its toll on the temperature of the room. She set her book down and got to work lighting the fire. It was this freedom that made her not only appreciate the Head Student's quarters, but also Draco's popularity within his house which meant that he didn't utilise the space. It allowed her to work in peace and quiet without her friends catching on to what she was doing. She knew that they would be annoyed if they found out; after all she had sworn to give up her extra lessons when she gave up the time turner, but they would have to understand that a war was brewing and that she wanted to be prepared for it. Ron after all is pure blood, so at no immediate risk, and Harry has the full protection of Dumbledore and the Order. She however is the muggle-born of the Golden Trio and would be the first on any Death Eaters hit list, so she wanted to be able to defend herself.

She had managed, with Professor McGonagall's help, to carry on all of her lessons using a specially designed pensieve. It is worn as a ring on the 2nd finger on the left hand, and in place of a standard gem is a rune covered dish. When tapped with a wand this expands to the span of the wearers hand but remains weightless. Another added feature is that instead of completely inserting yourself into the memory, you can watch it from a distance, with the surface of the memory acting as a screen. The sounds from the memories are charmed only to be heard by the user of the wand who activated the pensieve. At the end of each day McGonagall will send Hermione memories of the lessons from all of her professors, via one of the school house elves, which she keeps in miniature rounded glass bottles on a charm bracelet on her left wrist. Each is capped with a tiny cork stopper and engraved with the appropriate subject name. Each bottle can also be expanded and shrunk again with the tap of a wand for easy access to the memories. Hermione was extremely happy with this method, as her Time Turner had often left her confused in the evenings, but she knew that additional curriculum lessons alone would not protect her in the coming war, she needed more than that.

The morning before the year's first lessons was always the least stressful for Severus. He had all of his lessons planned, and no essay marking looming over him. The year would only become more stressful as it continued, but for that first breakfast he could relax knowing he had nothing more than standard lessons to do.

He was just finishing his porridge when he spotted an undersized brown owl flying in his direction with the rest of the post owls. When it landed in front of him he shared a slightly confused look with Minerva before relieving the bird of its letter and sending it on its way with a scrap of bacon as payment. He noted the neatness of the envelope and the particularly crisp white parchment used before reading its content.

Professor S. Snape,

I humbly write to you in the hopes of procuring some of your time and expertise by way of advanced training in lieu of the developing dangers in association with the reoccurrence of the Dark Lord. I am aware of the demanding duties that you already possess, and will thus understand if this is not possible, but I would be eternally grateful of your consideration in regards to this request.

Yours sincerely,

Miss H. Granger.

He smiled slightly at the letter before folding it up and placing it back within its envelope. He had been expecting something to this effect for a while. It was only a matter of time after he had been forced into attempting to teach Potter Occlumency that Granger would come requesting lessons. A bright witch such as herself would never be content with the standard curriculum.

Severus looked over to the Gryffindor table, quickly spotting Granger. She was jotting down notes from a rather sizeable book while nibbling her way through some toast. 'Perhaps,' he thought 'she won't be quite such an unreasonable student.'.

"Oh god, that was horrible. How much do they expect us to remember for these damn exams? We're not even going to use half of that stuff in reality." Ron pulled slightly on his red hair as he complained.

"Honestly Ron. It's not an unreasonable amount to learn if you put your mind to it." Hermione stated, readjusting her heavy satchel bag with a grunt.

"Hermione, it's the first day and we've been set essays for EVERY subject! How is that a reasonable amount?"

Hermione tutted, readjusting her bag again as she walked.

"Hey 'mione, you okay with that?" Harry asked, pointing at Hermione's satchel.

"Yeah, I'm fine; I'm just going to drop it off in my room now anyway. I'll see you guys later." She gave them a wave and scurried off to the Head Student's quarters, significantly slowed by her bag.

When she entered her quarters she was greeted by a small envelope floating in the middle of the room which glided towards her as she entered. She dropped her bag to the floor and plucked the letter from the air, carefully opening it.

Miss H. Granger,

I appreciate your astute assessment of the potential dangers associated with the current situation, and may therefore be able to aid you in the appropriate advancement of your study. I warn you that these sessions will be exceptionally taxing, and may be subject to sudden time changes. As it stands I am currently available between the hours of 22:00 and 24:00 and thus expect your attendance at my office at precisely 22:00 tonight for your first session. Failure to attend or failure to be prompt will result in immediate cancelation of these sessions.

Regards,

S. Snape.

Hermione smiled brightly down at the letter before replacing it into its envelope and storing it away in her bedside draw. She didn't expect him to respond so quickly and was particularly shocked that he had agreed to help her at all. Harry had always complained that he hadn't wanted to give extra lessons and that he needed to be bullied into it by Professor Dumbledore. Perhaps Harry was wrong after all.

She looked down at her watch, she still had plenty of time before her allocated time with Professor Snape, and so she set herself up on the couch by the fire of the Head Students common room and set to work on her first set of essays.

Severus sat at his desk with a leather bound book in his hands. Just as the timing charm chimed the hour he heard three sharp knocks on the door.

"You may enter Miss Granger." He stated with his usual cold tone.

The door opened and Hermione strode in, closing the door gently behind her, before positioning herself before her professor's desk.

"Thank-you for your time Professor." She said with a smile.

Severus allowed himself a small smile as he placed his book on the desk. This was not the gaudy know-it-all child he once knew, the confident woman that stood before him barely held that girls resemblance. She had ink ground into her fingers on her right hand, and a few splodges on her cheeks. On anyone else it would look ridicules, but on her it was endearing.

"You have greatly changed, much to your benefit Miss Granger." He remarked as he conjured a comfortable chair beside the girl. "Please take a seat. Would you like some tea?"

"Yes please." She answered as she sat.

"I was not at all surprised to have received this letter from you." He started, tapping her letter that lay on his desk, then conjuring a delicate tea service. "I have in fact been expecting it since I began my unsuccessful lessons with Potter."

Severus handed Hermione her cup before taking a drink from his own.

"I suppose I am rather predictable Professor." She said with a smile.

"So I assume you're here for Occlumency lessons Miss Granger?"

"Yes, but if you would be willing, I would like to learn other things too."

Severus raised an eyebrow at this and set his teacup down.

"Such as?" He coaxed.

"You are a particularly talented dualist Professor. That is a skill that I believe would be most beneficial to learn."

"You wish to train in combat Miss Granger?" He asked, genuinely surprised. He had not expected her to want to better herself in physical aspects as well.

"I do. In a time of war, I cannot rely only on my mind, I may have to fight." She said this with such certainty that it slightly worried the man before her.

"Why would you believe it necessary for you to fight? For the time being at least, you shall remain safe within the castle."

"That may be true Professor, but I am very aware of the dangers placed on me. I am after all a member of the so called 'Golden Trio', add on to that my 'Mudblood' status and I am a sitting target."

Severus visibly tensed at the word 'Mudblood' but quickly regained his composure. He had hardly expected this either. As far as he was aware, the other members of her Golden Trio were not thinking as critically as this, almost no-body was. Most adults, even some Order members, were still in denial of the Dark Lords return. Then before him stands this beautiful, gifted young witch preparing herself for a war.

"Miss Granger, this will be a lot of hard work. I hope that you are prepared for it."

Hermione straightened herself up in her seat, meeting her Professors eyes.

"Yes Professor. You know I will work hard."

"Indeed I do." He smiled, leaning back in his chair. "Mondays and Fridays will be assigned for combat training, Wednesdays will be for Occlumency. Ten until twelve each night." He reached below his desk and pulled out a bundle of books bound by a wide ribbon. "These are for your Occlumency. I expect you to be reading these alongside our sessions. I did not prepare texts on combat, so please excuse me for a moment." With that he stood from his desk, and with his robes sweeping elegantly behind him he strode through the archway to the left of the room.

Hermione reached forwards to the books on the desk, stroking her finger along their spines, noticing that they all had silken covers.

Severus quickly swept back into the room with a large leather bound book in his hands, far bigger than Hermione had seen before. When he set it on the table it made a large THUNK. He then pulled out his wand and gave it a silent flick.

"I believe this should help you. I have charmed them all to follow you to your room. You would be best heading to bed anyway, it is getting late."

It was in fact much later than she had thought; she was beginning to feel tired, and had to supress the urge to yawn.

"Yes professor." She said, smiling widely as she stood. "I really do appreciate this." She gave a slight nod of the head and made her way towards the door, followed closely by the books.

"Oh, and Miss Granger..."

She stopped, halfway out of the door and turned to face her Professor.

"Look after those books; I shall expect them returned without damage."

"Of course Professor, Goodnight." She said with a giggle in her voice before closing the door behind her and making her way to her room.


End file.
